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Originally Posted by The Reaper
Due to the engineering degrees awarded at that point from the USMA, I would have expected a disproportionate number of engineers by civilian profession.
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Remember that this was in the days before sewers and indoor plumbing and many other things. There were not that many jobs in engineering to be had. Canal building, mining, maybe railroads, would have employed a fair number, but not enough. Major highway, dam and bridge projects were yet to come.
Engineering only began to organize as a profession in mid-century. The American Society of Civil Engineers was founded in 1852. The American Institute of Architects in 1857. The American Institute of Mining Engineers followed in 1871, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1880 and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1884. Of course, several of these predate the American Bar Association, founded in 1878.